


Life's A Picnic

by Rhys (rhyssj)



Category: NSYNC, Popslash
Genre: First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-04
Updated: 2004-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-20 08:27:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14256936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhyssj/pseuds/Rhys
Summary: Joey and Justin woo each other lots, and have even more sex.





	Life's A Picnic

**Author's Note:**

> Joey slashficathon story for Amanda Zillah.

NO. I’LL FIND MY OWN WAY TO YOUR PLACE. LESS TROUBLE,  
YEAH? YOU BETTER BE UP. LEAVE THE OUTSIDE LIGHT ON, K,  
BECAUSE I KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS AND JAIL SCARES ME. 

GLAD YOU AGREE ABOUT THE GUYS. THANKS. AND CAN I  
TELL YOU HOW NERVOUS I AM? I’M A DORK! 

SEEYA SOON, K? 

LOVE,  
J 

\-----Original Message-----  
From: "joey" <joethesuperman@nsync.com>  
To: "J" <justmejrt@nsync.com>  
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 3:18 PM  
Subject: am I picking you up at the airprot? 

> ok dude. I forget. Am i picking you up or not? Beacuse I can.  
> Been thinking about what you said about the guys and me too.  
> call me a slefish motherf*cker (dude it censored me! what the f*ck?)  
> but I kinda want ome time first you know? Hopefully its not too weird.  
> cuz dude you dont wanna know whats been going through my head.  
> Any way I know this is late. If I dont heare back i will be there.  
> love joey. 

~~~ 

Joey spent the evening on his couch, staring at the ceiling and visualising having crazy hot sex with Justin. He’d heard somewhere, probably on late night tv, that shit like that was helpful. Visualisation. All it really did was give him a hard on, which Joey supposed meant it worked after all. 

Idly, he cupped his dick in the curve of his palm, and thought about masturbating, but didn’t. If there was even a chance in hell of having sex with Justin, he was gonna take it. No big deal, right? Having sex with a guy he’d known since the guy was fourteen, nearly ten years ago. 

"What the hell are we doing, J?" Joey mumbled, tapping his fingers against the line of his cock. He glanced at his watch. Justin’s plane landed over two hours ago, and chances were he was within spitting distance. Way too fucking late, Joey thought, to call the whole thing off. 

It wasn’t in Joey’s genes to be nervous. He’d been performing for people since diapers, and it’d never occurred to him to be self conscious, and that was the same thing are nervousness, right? But his gut was all twisted up in knots, and he was playing with fire, and fuuuuck. 

"It’s only J," he said to the ceiling and his cock, the only two things he was really aware of beyond the cramping in his belly. "J’s sexy. Everyone thinks J’s sexy. _I_ think J’s sexy. So, there. That’s good. The minute the door opens, get your fat ass off this couch and kiss him." 

That worked right up until the moment Justin set off his house alarm. 

~~~ 

Justin had already disabled the thing when Joey came wheeling into the hallway. Joey stopped midway, and stared, and said "hi" stupidly, like some lame ass girl. It made him feel a little better when Justin said "hi" back and scratched a hand sheepishly over the nape of his neck. 

"I didn’t mean to put the alarm on," Joey said, knowing it was lame and helplessly unable to stop himself. "It’s just, like, reflex, I guess. My mom programmed me too well. Plus, the whole growing up in Brooklyn thing probably didn’t help. But mostly, I’m just an idiot." 

"Shit," Justin said, sounding a little breathless. "It scared the living daylights outta me." 

Joey took a couple steps in Justin’s general direction. "Sorry." 

"You left the light on, though," Justin said, and Joey kissed him. If it wasn’t the worst kiss in the history of the world, it came pretty fucking close. Joey mostly missed Justin’s mouth, and Justin poked him in the eye trying to cup his cheek. They parted, laughing at each other. 

Joey rubbed at his watering eye. "Wow. That really _sucked_ , J. And ow, my _eye_." 

Justin laughed. "Sorry, Joey. But shit, I spent, like, the whole plane ride visualising ...." 

"Me too! On the couch, I mean. I was thinking about, you know, what I’d do ..." 

"... and even at its worst, it was so much better than that," Justin finished, grinning. 

Joey reached, catching Justin by the tips of his fingers, pulling him closer. "Try again?" 

"Yeah," Justin said. 

~~~ 

That time it worked. They kissed for so long in the hall that Joey’s knees gave out, and they ended up on the ceramic tile, using Justin’s garment bag as a makeshift mattress. Justin’s mouth was everything Joey had imagined, and even better than that. He tasted sweet like Coke. His tongue flicked into Joey’s mouth like a pro, and Joey matched its movements, moaning a bit. 

"This is better," Justin murmured, fiddling with the button of Joey’s jeans. 

"Yeah," Joey said, lifting his hips to make it easier for Justin to slide his jeans down. Justin seemed content with that, but Joey tugged on Justin’s belt loops, so Justin got the clue and wiggled out of his own pants. There was a hanger poking into Joey’s back, but he didn’t care. 

"So much better than the phone or that AOL thing," Justin said, grinning and putting his hand, firm and tight, over Joey’s cock. "On the list of things I can do one-handed, typing isn’t one of them, but wanna see something I can do?" He slipped his fingers into Joey’s black briefs. 

Joey lifted his hips, pushing into Justin’s firm touch. "I’m very impressed, man." 

"Thought you’d like that," Justin said, grinning. "And fuck, your dick feels good." 

Joey groped around for Justin’s and found it, impossibly hard against his palm. "Yeah?" 

"Yeah," Justin murmured, and slicked his tongue into Joey’s mouth again. 

~~~ 

They had sex like it was the first time either of them had ever done it with another living person, like it was the last time they’d ever have a chance to again. Even when Joey managed a mumbled, "you wanna, my bed," they didn’t make it up the stairs before doing it again. Joey went down on Justin first, licking around the head of his dick, sucking him in deeper and deeper. Justin shuddered and moaned, pulling helplessly at Joey’s hair. When he came, Joey swallowed. 

They managed another ten steps before Justin pushed Joey up against the wall and fell to his knees, mouth around open and willing. Joey slid his dick between Justin’s lips, mesmerised by the wet gleam of his pre-come on Justin’s smile, and how deep into it he could actually go. 

They did it all night, slept, then did it again in the morning, even though they both had gross breath. They took a shower together, no sex, but it was still hot. Justin had grown his hair out a little for his movie, and it was soft and springy between Joey’s fingers as he lathered. 

"I like this," Joey said, pulling Justin’s head back by the curls, kissing him again. 

"Mmm," Justin hummed, low in his throat, "me too." 

Joey had a couple frozen pizzas in his fridge, which they ate for lunch and heated up again for dinner. They kissed like high school sweethearts whenever they could. They had sex the minute either of them could get it up again. Joey wished they were lesbians just so they could do it more, could come more, but Justin didn’t let a soft cock get in his way, so neither did Joey. 

"We have to stop having sex," Justin said, on the third day, his hand working Joey’s aching cock. It was rubbed raw, and Joey didn’t give a fuck at all. He was all but ready to give Justin permission to just keep on going until he pulled it off. Joey didn’t mind. It’d be worth it. 

"Tomorrow," Joey promised, spreading his legs, tilting his hips up at Justin. 

"Tomorrow," Justin agreed, and slid two wonderful fingers slick as butter into Joey’s ass. 

~~~ 

Really, it had all happened pretty accidentally. It wasn’t like Joey had expected to fall for Justin. Hell, it was probably the last thing he ever thought would happen, but Joey put it all on good timing. Justin was lonely up in Vancouver, freshly dumped by Cameron, and Joey was lonely in Orlando, living in a house too big for one guy, a house that had been perfect for three. 

He still got Brianna on the weekends, though he'd begged off on the next few to maximise his Justin-time, but it wasn’t the same as waking up to find a grinning girl sitting on his stomach, laughing as she was tickled. He felt like a horrible dad. He and Kelly had broken up before, too many times to count, but this time was different, permanent. Joey felt it in his bones. It was amiable, as far as break ups went, but Joey had still been bummed. 

It wasn’t a rebound relationship, him and Justin, because all of this had happened in the beginning of March and it was now the end of August, and they hadn’t even started fooling around until three weeks ago, and even then it had been online or over the phone. Before then, it’d just been this warm slow-growing feeling deep in Joey’s belly as he read Justin’s emails. 

Eventually, Joey began to wonder if this incessant tingling was actually _love_. 

JC, the resident expert simply so he knew how to avoid it, concurred. 

"Man," JC said, "sounds like you’ve fallen for this lady hard. You all right with that?" 

Joey, who had always tried to live every day to the fullest, still hemmed and hawed. "It’s a little soon, isn’t it? I mean, I just broke up with my fiancee, the mother of my _child_ , who I’ve dated since I was, like, sixteen. Shouldn’t the mourning period be a little, I dunno, _longer_?" 

"Man, maybe all this happened so you could find this new mama. Kismet, yeah?" 

"Good point," Joey said, still a little reluctant, but that, as they say, had been that. 

~~~ 

By the fourth day, Joey wasn’t so insane with lust for Justin that he couldn’t think of anything else to do with his day but have sex with Justin. He still thought about it a lot, but he thought about a lot of other things too, like how funny Justin could be when he really got going, and how he liked to chatter on constantly about sports, which Joey actually didn’t like too much. 

"I’m boring you, aren’t I?" Justin asked, grinning over the top of the Sports section. 

"Yep," Joey replied, laughing, "and hey, you never answered me. Scrambled or fried?" 

Joey wasn’t big on cooking. If he was really hungry, he’d just go home and sit patiently at the table until his mom got a clue and made him something delicious to eat. But Justin was big on eating, and Joey was genetically programmed to like stuffing people until they were content, even if the food he offered was sub-par. It wasn’t Joey’s fault that he sucked so bad at cooking. 

"These are fantastic," Justin always said between mouthfuls. "You make the best eggs," which caused Joey to bristle with pride, like he’d done something incredible instead of frying two eggs without breaking the yokes, but Justin hated broken yokes, so yeah, there was some pride, even if it was misplaced. Joey just always ate the broken ones like he’d intended to make them. 

It was just so good to have someone in his house again, who walked around in just his underwear, and watered Joey’s much-neglected plants because they looked thirsty, and who, when he grinned, lit up Joey’s whole fucking life. So, yeah, it wasn’t _just_ lust, no fucking way. 

JC the Love Scrooge had been right. 

~~~ 

"I’m so glad that I’m here," Justin muttered on the sixth night, just before he feel asleep with his head on Joey’s chest, right above his heart. Justin was still sweaty from sex but rapidly cooling, so he felt cold and slimy like a corpse in Joey’s arms, and he was also a little stinky, the faint odour of natural armpit wafting into Joey’s nose, but Joey realised he didn’t care at all. 

It was kinda funny, Joey guessed, in a way. Joey, who had always been the guy who wanted the plain Jane instead of the models and the movie stars and the dancers, had finally got the guy everyone and their uncle wanted. But the smelly, gross guy draped over him like a wet carpet wasn’t, in Joey’s mind, Justin Timberlake. He was just Justin, an entirely different entity. 

Joey was pondering this at the exact moment Justin let one rip, loud like a brass horn. 

"J," Joey said, shoving at Justin’s shoulder, laughing. "J, wake up, man!" 

Blearily, Justin opened his eyes. "What? What’s going on?" 

"Dude, you just farted in your sleep. It sounded like this." Joey pursed his lips together and trumpeted so loud that the Wilson’s dog, Major Mac, started howling next door. Justin blinked then started laughing so hard that his eyes squinched up and tears rolled down his cheeks. 

"No fucking way!" 

"Way!" Joey said, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hands then wrapping his arms back around Justin, holding him while he laughed. Justin’s skin had warmed right up again. Justin’s body hummed with laughter, and Joey had never been so grateful for a fart in his life. 

~~~ 

Justin did stupid romantic shit whenever he could, which wasn’t often, and that bummed out Justin. Joey hadn’t even liked romantic shit all that much before Justin, but it was in Justin’s blood, the need to buy flowers and Hallmark cards and cool CDs. It wasn’t like they could see a movie together, or go out for dinner without bodyguards, or walk on the beach and hold hands. 

"Dude, you don’t gotta," Joey said the time Justin came back from an afternoon 7-Eleven run, frazzled and shaken. Even with a hat, Justin was recognisable, but that didn’t stop him from trying to pretend like nobody would notice if he walked into a store, looking for cheap flowers. 

"But I want to," Justin replied quietly, offering Joey the crumpled flowers anyway. They were still on the coffee table, surrounded by stacks of DVDs and tv guides that dated back three months. Joey should have known that wouldn’t be the end of it, because Justin came back breathless one night, after a mumbled "taking out the garbage," and held out four red roses. 

"I jumped the fence and stole them from your neighbour," Justin explained, pink-cheeked and grinning. His hand was bleeding from a shallow cut. Probably a thorn, Joey figured, taking Justin’s palm between his fingers and carefully examining it. "I don’t think he saw me, but that dog kept fucking barking, and this Swiss Army Knife sucks major ass. I’m totally disappointed." 

Joey grinned. "Dude, did you just commit a felony for me?" 

"Only a little one," Justin replied. 

~~~ 

Joey had been a little worried that it wouldn’t work. Them. Mostly, he had been scared that it wouldn’t translate from email and chat to the real world, because he couldn’t remember feeling this way about Justin before. He’d always liked the guy a lot, but he hadn’t wanted to kiss Justin until his lips fell off or lick every inch of Justin’s golden skin or, well, have sex with him. 

"Do you find this a little weird," Joey asked one night as he read the funnies, mentally preparing himself to tackle the crossword next even though he knew he was going to end up asking for help. It was Justin’s job to read the rest of the paper then lend a hand. "Us, I mean?" 

Justin pursed his lips for a second then shook his head. "Not weird, just ... _unexpected_." 

_Unexpected_. That was a great word for it. Joey grinned. "You know I love you, right?" 

Justin bit his lower lip and smiled. "Yeah, Joey, I know. You know I love you, too?" 

"Yeah," Joey said, dropping the funnies and the crossword off the side of the bed then plucking the Sports section from Justin’s hands. Gently, he urged Justin onto his back, and Justin went without question, like always. "Do you know how much I’m _in_ love with you, J?" 

"Yes," Justin murmured, his tongue snaking out and wetting his lips, which Joey took as an invitation. That was the problem, really. It was incredibly hard to have serious conversations, not that they _really_ needed them, when Justin insisted on being so fucking sexy all the time. 

~~~ 

Joey decided to do something special for Justin, but he didn’t know _what_. Joey was just no good at romantic gestures. Though they had agreed to never go public with this information, it had actually been Chris’s idea to import the Palace of Fine Arts to Orlando _then_ propose to Kelly. 

It was unfortunate, then, that the only one who picked up was Lance, the least romantic guy Joey had ever met. He loved Lance, no doubt, but the fucker was too damn practical. There was a moment of silence after Joey asked then an incredulous, "are you seriously asking _me_?" 

"C’mon, dude. You’ve gotta have something. You’re the thinker in this friendship." 

"Joey," Lance said then stopped. Joey waited hopefully then had his heart crushed to bits when Lance continued with, "have you tried being better in bed? Everybody likes great sex." 

Joey rolled his eyes. "I don’t need to improve _that_ , dude. I fucking rock in the sack." 

"Then I have no idea," Lance admitted, "and hey, since when are you seeing someone?" 

"Uh. Since now?" Idly, Joey wondered if his promise to Justin still stood. It had been a week, and that was a lot better than either of them had expected. It was only lucky that Chris was in Dallas, or else he would have walked in on them in an compromising position last Tuesday. 

"You’re honestly not going to tell me, are you?" Lance asked, and Joey bit his lip, feeling his will begin to bend under the pressure. Lance, as always, saved his ass. "It’s Justin, isn’t it?" 

"Yesssss," Joey hissed with relief. It felt so good to tell someone, even if it was Lance, who would ultimately not appreciate it. Joey didn’t understand how a guy raised by parents who had a date night every Saturday just didn’t get romance at all. "How did you know that, man?" 

"My superior powers of deduction. Chris and JC are straight, and you sure as hell aren’t dating me, so it’s gotta be Justin. If it was someone on the outside, you would have told me right away, because they wouldn’t have known about your prying, meddling friends. Smart, huh?" 

"Except about fucking romance," Joey said, " _moron_." 

"Idiot," Lance replied sweetly. 

~~~ 

"I told Lance about us," Joey confessed glumly over supper. He’d made spaghetti for Justin, using his mom’s special recipe for the sauce and adding extra sausage because Justin was big on meat. It had actually turned out pretty good. Justin was currently devouring his third plate. 

Justin paused mid-bite, a shower of noddles spilling of his mouth. He swallowed then wiped his chin with his half of the KFC napkin Justin had found hiding in his utensil drawer. Joey had almost had to break out the handtowels. Poor planning on his part. Joey admitted that. 

"Eh," Justin said, shrugged then started shovelling the food in again. "Don’t worry about it. It was a stupid rule." Justin swallowed then dabbed at his lips again with his napkin. "I’ve been trying to tell Chris for, like, days, but the fucker won’t pick up his phone. I told C instead." 

"Phew," Joey said, and started eating, finally. Guilt sometimes killed his appetite. 

"This, by the way, is the best spaghetti ever," Justin said between massive bites, mouth full of spaghetti again. He ripped a huge chunk of garlic bread with his teeth then chewed fiercely. Joey watched the bob of Justin’s throat as he swallowed. "So much meat, so good." 

"Well, I know how much you like Italian sausage," Joey replied, lifting his eyebrows. 

Slowly, Justin pulled the fork out of his mouth. "Mm, yeah. It’s very filling, you know." 

"There’s more where that came from." 

"Oh, yeah? Wanna show me?" 

Joey was pretty sure fucking right after a meal was just asking for a cramp in the side, like swimming, but he didn’t give a fuck as he hauled Justin out of his chair and carried him into the nearest room with a soft surface. There was a perfectly good sofa, but the carpet was closer. 

"You taste so fucking good," Justin muttered between frantic kisses, his long legs completely in the way, so Joey just held them up and whisked off Justin’s sweatpants. Joey spread Justin’s legs, fitting himself in the vee. They engaged in a little desperate dry-humping. 

"I’m gonna rip your shorts off with my teeth," Joey hissed then did just that, his hands too busy with his own pants and its stuck zipper. It hurt a lot more than he expected, tearing Justin’s briefs off, but then Justin’s cock bumped him merrily on the nose, and he forget about the pain. 

~~~ 

JC was useless when Joey asked about romantic gestures. All he said was shit like "get him chocolates" and "send him flowers" and "buy him a vacuum." Joey knew perfectly well the vacuum would just piss Justin off, because practical gifts, no matter how much Lance claimed otherwise, just weren’t romantic at all. The flowers and chocolates were good but not _great_. 

Justin kept showing him up, but Joey didn’t mind too much. All the cool shit was for him, after all, and Joey wasn’t stupid enough to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was like an extended Christmas morning. Mostly. Justin went out one afternoon and came home with a black eye and three scripts under his arm. Joey got a bag of green beans for Justin’s face. 

Joey fretted over the bruise like an Italian mother. "Jesus. What happened, man?" 

Justin shrugged, trying to dodge the bag of green beans whenever it even came near his face. "Just some asshole, trying to stir up shit." Justin grabbed the beans and tossed them. "Don’t worry about it, okay? It’s a fucking messed up world out there, Joey. I know that." 

"Which is why you should just stay home with me," Joey muttered, and that made Justin frown so deeply that suddenly he looked about twenty years older. Joey dropped everything else he was going to say about bringing bodyguards and being less mouthy. "So what didja get?" 

"Thanks, Joey," Justin said quietly then grinned brightly, reaching for his parcel. "I got you a present, but you gotta wait until it’s ready," and then Justin was off and running, taking the stairs three at a time. From upstairs, he yelled, "gimme fifteen minutes, all right? Maybe twenty!" 

"Freak," Joey muttered, but got up and grabbed the bag of green beans in one swipe of his hand. He opened the freezer, shoved them back in with the other bagged vegetables he’d never ever eat, and got himself a glass of water. Twenty minutes turned out to be a hell of a long time. 

~~~ 

Justin was, in Joey’s completely unbiassed opinion, a million shades of sexy. From the line of his chicken legs to his complete lack of ass, Joey couldn’t stop staring. The width of his shoulders, his tapered waist, his cock. Especially his cock. Joey spent a hell of a lot of time with his eyes on Justin’s dick, memorising everything about it, storing away all the finer details. 

It was funny, but in the weeks between their confessional email exchange and their schedules finally lining up, Joey had driven himself nuts trying to remember what Justin’s dick looked like. It wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed Justin had one. It was more like it hadn’t occurred to him to look closer, like maybe someday he’d actually want the knowledge. Unexpected, oh yeah. 

"You don’t have to keep doing this stuff for me," Joey said quietly, the heat of the candles already dampening his skin with sweat. Someday, Justin was going to burn some poor fucker’s house down. If Joey was lucky, he was going to be that man. "I’m fine with just you." 

"This is just me," Justin replied, gathering Joey’s hands in his and leading Joey to the tub. It was filled to the top and smelled like warm peach pie. "So shut up and let me do it, all right?" 

Justin kissed him on the corner of the mouth then did that eye-rolling you-are-a-dork thing he did sometimes until Joey gave up and got into the water. Joey spread his knees, hooking his arm around Justin’s waist when he was close enough and pulling him down with a splash. 

"Jerk," Justin said, laughing. "You got my present for you all wet." 

"I know," Joey growled, nipping at Justin’s ear. Justin barked a quick, loud laugh. 

"The script, dork." Justin reached for the parcel he’d originally returned with and ripped off the paper, revealing a stack of water-damp paper. Joey squinted at the title then broke into a wide grin, pressing it against Justin’s cheek. "I thought we could, you know, read it together. You’d be Superman, and I’d be Lois Lane. And _wow_ , that sounds really fucking familiar." 

"I think you just quoted one of C’s songs, man," Joey murmured, loving how Justin curled like it tickled, his face all scrunched up. He squeezed Justin until he squeaked. "You, J, are something else, you know that? A fucking Superman script. Did those geeks beat you up?" 

"Eh. They’re just jealous I get laid more often than them. I told them that, you know." 

Joey opened his mouth against Justin’s ear, laughing. 

~~~ 

Joey decided to break out the big guns and call Chris, even if Justin still hadn’t managed to get through to him and get him up to date on their big love-fest. Getting a hold of Chris was trickier than Joey wanted to admit, but calling him four times an hour for nine hours worked. 

"Jesus Christ, Joe. This had better be good," Chris said when he finally answered. In the background, Joey could hear the chirp of Chris’s tv, all "do me harder with your big cock" and "oh, yeah, oh, yeah, fuck me deeper, oh yeeeah." Joey hadn’t even thought about porn in weeks. 

Joey got off the bed, leaving Justin there, blissfully asleep and wonderfully naked, and stepped out onto his balcony. It was muggy outside, bugs buzzing happily in his ears. Joey sat down on a plastic chair. "Can you turn that off for a second? I need to use your brain, dude." 

Chris grumbled, but did it. "You know, I’m only listening to you because I know you’re an idiot and need all the help you can get. You’re interrupting one _awesome_ movie, Fatone." 

Joey propped his feet up on the railing, scratching a hand over his belly then going lower. If there were any photographers in his bushes, it would serve them right for being so fucking nosy, being forced to take pictures of his hairy balls. Joey quickly explained the whole situation. 

"Fuck," Chris said at the end of the story, "who the hell are you dating, Joe? _Justin_?" 

"Hey, good guess," Joey replied, wishing he was there to see the look on Chris’s face. 

Chris’s spluttering and snorts of disbelief only lasted a few minutes and then, "well, I guess that explains all those cryptic messages from the kid. I figured, he was either breaking up with me or trying to tell me he was dying, and either way I didn’t want to hear it. He around?" 

"Sleeping," Joey said, looking in through the sliding glass doors. "I tired him out." 

Chris crowed. "Joey Fatone is back on the dick! Mothers, keep your sons locked up." 

Joey smiled, but it was late, and Justin was just lying there, begging for Joey to fold himself against his back and go to sleep. "Listen, dude, I hate to cut this short, but seriously, I need help here. You know him the best, man. I need something, like, awesome to do for him." 

"And you can’t think of anything?" 

"Sure I can," Joey said quickly, "but you’re better at this shit. I mean, I’ve told him I love him. That’s something, right?" 

Chris snorted. "With Justin, that’s not romantic, Joe. That’s expected." 

"Then help a poor fucker out here, will ya? I want to do this right." 

"I don’t know if I should waste anymore of my great ideas on you, Fatone. That whole proposal thing was pretty fucking awesome, if I do say so myself." Chris huffed into the phone. Joey could just imagine Chris scrubbing his knuckles against his shirt. If he was even wearing a shirt. Joey didn’t want to think about that. Chris kept on talking. "This is an easy one, though." 

"Oh, yeah?" 

"Yeah. Do something romantically cliche, man. Something a regular pair of lovebirds would take for granted. There’s a million shitty movies out there you can steal ideas from, Joe, if you need help. I’m not giving you more than that. But," Chris added ominously, "don’t surprise him, all right? Fucking Ashton Kutcher ruined it for the rest of us, the motherfucker." 

"Yeah," Joey muttered, probably bitter about it for completely different reasons. 

"Anyway," Chris said sharply. The sound on Chris’s tv sparked to life again. Joey rolled his eyes. It’d probably been on mute. "Tell me how it goes, all right? And by that, I mean email me, because I’m a busy man, you know, and it took me fifteen minutes to delete your messages." 

"The second I can, dude, I will email you." Joey stood up, ripping his ass cheeks off the plastic lounge chair, wincing at the sharp zap of pain. Idly, Joey rubbed his raw skin. "Thanks, Chris. I’ll let you get back to your porn, but think about getting a life, will ya?" 

"Oh, fuck you, Fatone," Chris said, and hung up, laughing. 

~~~ 

Joey could do romantic cliches. Once upon a time, Kelly had yelled at him for always getting her chocolates and roses and singing Bon Jovi songs to her in public. Over the years, Joey had managed to get his cheesy romantic impulses under control, but it was like riding a bike. 

They couldn’t go to the grocery store, not in the light of day, and Joey was too excited to wait until the next morning. At eight o’clock on the morning, Joey dragged Justin out of bed and sat him down in front of the computer with an enthusiastic, "we’re going shopping for a picnic!" 

Justin smiled crookedly. Before Justin could lift his hand to wipe the sleep from his eyes, Joey did it for him, gently thumbing on either side of Justin’s nose. Joey put his hands on Justin’s hips and turned him towards the screen, climbing behind him on the chair, arms around his waist. 

"We need strawberries," Joey murmured in Justin’s ear, "and peanut butter and jelly." 

"And Wonderbread," Justin replied, slowly moving the mouse over the screen. 

"And orange soda," Joey added, brushing his fingers in circles on Justin’s flat belly. 

They got whipped cream for the strawberries, and some green grapes, and two slices of blueberry cheesecake, and whole bunch of other picnic essentials. As Justin took a shower, Joey phoned the number on the website and bribed the company to make an exception and deliver the food immediately. Then he called up Lonnie, and begged him to buy them a picnic basket with, "like, you know, plaid fabric on the inside and wicker shit all woven together and stuff like that." 

"You owe me," Lonnie said, but by mid-afternoon, there was a box on the stoop. 

When Justin had come out of the shower somewhat more awake, Joey had laid his fingers over Justin’s lips and said, "no questions." There needed to be some element of surprise, Joey thought. At least Justin knew the gist of it, even if Joey kept his mouth shut on the finer details, even if Joey was mostly making it up as he went along. He’d never actually been on a picnic. 

Joey knew Justin wanted to ask questions, like when and where and why, but he kept his mouth shut and helped Joey prepare the food when the delivery arrived. Joey left the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches completely up to Justin. He was a little particular about them. 

"Dude, you can just make mine sloppy, I don’t care," Joey finally said, after watching Justin meticulously spread the peanut butter on one half of the bread then just as evenly spread the jelly on the other half. It was driving Joey bonkers, even though he was pretty used to it. 

Justin’s tongue appeared in the corner of his mouth. "Don’t question the master, Joey." 

Joey washed the strawberries, and couldn’t help himself from holding one out for Justin’s teeth to bite into, leaving his lips red and shiny wet. They kissed for a long time up against the fridge, Joey’s hand on Justin’s hip, Justin’s dancing under Joey’s shirt in the small of his back. 

~~~ 

It was fun to torment Justin, Joey had to admit. Probably some lingering thing leftover from their days of strictly-friends, when it used to be so damn easy to work Justin into a frenzy. By evening, after both lunch and dinner, Joey could practically see the questions on Justin’s lips. 

"Trust me," Joey said, smiling, and Justin nodded, his nose scrunched up. The other few times when it looked like Justin was about to burst with inquires, Joey just leaned over and kissed his mouth, still able to taste the strawberries on Justin’s tongue. There was plenty left, too. 

At a quarter to midnight, Justin stood up and stretched, raising his arms over his head. A delicious line of belly peeked out from under the hem of his shirt, and Joey pulled him close to kiss over the soft skin there, following the path of dark hair. Joey opened his mouth and covered Justin’s dick through his jeans, kissing him. The heat of Justin’s cock radiated on Joey’s lips. 

"C’mon," Joey said and took Justin’s hand, walking with him to the fridge and grabbing the picnic basket then pulling him outside to the car. All Joey wanted to do was pick up Justin and carry him to bed, to feel the slide of Justin’s naked dick on his tongue, the roof of his mouth. 

Justin spent the entire drive to the park perched on the edge of his seat, head resting on his crossed arms, leaning on the dashboard. The look on his face was priceless. Joey smiled at him the whole way, nearly running over a bicycle, somebody’s cat and an already dead squirrel. 

"You have no idea," Justin said as they got out of the car, "how many questions I didn’t ask." 

Joey grinned and didn’t say anything, just walked past the sign that said shit like, "don’t let your dog crap on the grass without cleaning it up" and "parks closes at midnight" and headed towards a little clearing that Joey knew too well. The first time he got to second base was there. 

Hopefully, tonight, he was going to do one better. 

~~~ 

The clearing was a ways off the beaten path, and it was pretty fucking dark, even with the glimmer of the moon, full in the sky. Still, they got the blanket laid out, and once Joey’s sight adjusted, it wasn’t so bad, even if the whites of Justin’s eyes and teeth glowed freakishly bright. 

"You’re a dork," Justin said as Joey pulled him down onto the blanket by the wrist. 

"Fair play," Joey murmured, wishing he had the balls to kiss Justin right there in public, but even with the dark, Joey didn’t feel entirely safe. Wouldn’t it figure that those paparazzi fuckers owned those see-in-the-dark cameras and could take pictures of their green-hued faces. 

"So what? This is punishment? Revenge on me for being a sappy fucker?" 

Joey daringly put his hand on Justin’s knee. "Nah. This is a reward for that very thing." 

"Ooh," Justin said, laughing. 

Joey made a big production of unpacking the picnic basket, occasionally batting at the mosquitoes buzzing in his ears. He paused briefly to slather himself with repellant then resumed as Justin took a moment to cover his own skin. Joey made a mental note _not_ to lick Justin later. 

The sandwich was so good that Joey had to, begrudgingly of course, compliment Justin on his masterful skills when it came to peanut butter and jelly. He was still an obsessive freak, but Joey liked him like that, even if he carefully added, "but don’t think I support your neurosis." 

"Shut up, Joey," Justin said happily. 

They ate in silence after that, sitting close enough that their knees touched. Justin smelled like chemicals, but under it was the scent of his hair gel and his cologne, and even deeper, the smell of his sweat, pulled out of his skin by the sweltering heat. Joey’s chest felt heavy with it. 

It was the same sort of feeling that Joey got when he looked at Justin sometimes. When he sat on the bed, watching Justin do a million and two push ups, half of them one-handed. When he caught Justin coming out of the shower, all wet and warm and deliciously naked. When he watched Justin sleep, the way his eyelids fluttered with his dreams, how he would softly sigh. 

"You’re staring," Justin said quietly. He wasn’t even looking in Joey’s direction. 

"I can’t help it," Joey mumbled. In the dark, he groped for Justin’s hand then held it. 

Justin turned his head suddenly. His eyes were wide and strange. "Kiss me, Joey?" 

"J," Joey said softly. 

"I don’t care. Kiss me, please." 

So Joey did. 

~~~ 

They made out for only a couple minutes before the moment of insanity passed and Justin rolled onto his back, panting. Joey wasn’t hard, wasn’t even close, but it was still impossibly hot, like later, when he realised with a thrill how fucking _daring_ it had been, he’d jerk off to the memory. Of course, there was going to be a whole lot of jerking off in the near future anyway. 

"Do you know anything about astronomy?" Justin asked, folding his arms under his head, the rest of his body in a loose sprawl. So fucking sexy, Joey thought, and got a hard on. 

"Nope." 

"Me neither," Justin said, grinning. 

Joey chuckled, taking up a similar position, staring at the sky. The stars twinkled faintly in the overwhelming blackness, barely visible at all. They were too damned close to Orlando and all its light pollution. Joey knew about shit like that. "Stars aren’t as much fun as clouds, man." 

"No," Justin admitted, "but gotta make due with what I got, right? Stars are fine." 

"I think I like stars better. Couldn’t make out in public under the clouds, could we?" 

Justin laughed. "Or have a picnic." 

"Or go on our first date," Joey said, taking Justin’s hand and lacing their fingers together. 

"Romantic motherfucker," Justin murmured, lifting Joey’s hand to his mouth, kissing it. 

Joey opened his mouth to say something sappy back, but suddenly there was a light in his face. Their hands separated lightning-quick, and Joey sat up, blinking. If it was anybody other than a mob of teenage boys wielding baseball bats and other painful objects, they would be okay. 

"What are you up to tonight, gentlemen?" 

"Just enjoying the nice night, sir," Justin replied without missing a beat. When the man shone the light on Justin’s face, Joey noticed Justin was wearing a smile that would charm the pants off a nun. It was a little early in the game, Joey thought, for their only secret weapon. 

"The park closes at ten," the man said. A security officer, Joey figured. There was another guy, hovering in the shadows, hand at his waist. Probably ready to beat them if they refused to leave. Joey started gathering up their junk and tossing it back into the picnic basket. 

"We’re sorry, sir. We honestly didn’t know. We’ll be on our way." 

"Sorry," Joey echoed, already on his feet. Run-ins with the law made him nervous. 

"Move along then," the man said. 

They moved, slowly and carefully, until they got to the car. Once inside, safely locked away, they took one look at each other and started to laugh. Joey laughed until he couldn’t breathe, until tears rolled down his cheeks, until his belly ached. When he finally stopped, one look at Justin set him off again. They laughed for twenty more minutes then furiously made out for another ten. 

~~~ 

They barely made it inside the house. Upstairs was out of the question, but the carpet in the living room had already proven it was a prime location. Joey stripped as he ran after Justin, dodging Justin’s clothes as he flung them back. Out of breath, Joey eventually caught up to him. 

"Is this how our relationship is gonna be?" Joey asked, grabbing Justin by the hips and pulling him within kissing distance. Justin’s cock skidded over Joey’s belly as Joey fit a thigh between Justin’s legs, ready to fuck him standing if it came to that. "All crime and punishment?" 

"At least we’re not boring," Justin replied, grinning. 

Joey wondered if they ever would get boring. Having sex with Justin, _making_ _love_ to him, seemed like something Joey could do forever and never get sick of. They’d done it a hell of a lot in the not-quite-two-weeks that Justin had been in Joey’s house, and every time rocked more than the last had. If Joey could do this with Justin until the end of time, he would be happy. 

~~~ 

"How much longer can you stay?" Joey asked, later, as the sun was slowly creeping up and filtering in through his Venetian blinds, tossing lines of light across Justin’s naked body. There were people up and about already, which Joey had never understood. It was barely six. 

Justin sighed. "A few more days. Probably should have been back a week ago, but." 

"But," Joey echoed, walking his fingers down the centre of Justin’s chest, keeping his chin hooked firmly over Justin’s shoulder. He smelled good, Joey noticed, sniffing around. "It’s only for a few weeks, right? And then, you know, we’ll get back together. All of us, I mean." 

Justin tipped his head back and smiled. "Yep. I’m not worried. It’ll work, you know?" 

Joey nuzzled his nose in the indent of Justin’s temple. "Oh, yeah?" 

"Yeah," Justin said, putting his hands on the outsides of Joey’s thighs and moving over them from knee to hip, back and forth. The motion made Joey sleepy, mostly. His dick was the only bit of him still awake, deliciously and happily squished in the hot crevice of Justin’s ass. 

A sudden thought struck him, and Joey asked, "uh, we’re talking about us, right?" 

Justin rolled his eyes. "I already know the group works, Joey." 

"Just checking," Joey replied, grinning against the morning scruff on Justin’s cheek. "You wanna get some sleep, J?" 

Justin lifted an eyebrow. "Maybe. You gonna join me?" 

"In a second," Joey said. "I promised Chris an email, and I’m gonna forget, I know I am." 

"Fucker still hasn’t returned my calls," Justin muttered, putting both hands on Joey’s thighs then pushing himself to a stand. Joey openly admired Justin’s lean ass then, when Justin turned around and started laughing, openly ogled his dick. "Be up soon, okay? Short email." 

"One line," Joey promised, looking around for his laptop, already hating Chris, but Joey had this thing about keeping promises. He already had his one-liner written in his head: "mission: life’s a picnic has succeeded ... thanks." But where was his fucking laptop when he needed it? 

Justin laughed. "And Joey?" 

Joey glanced over his shoulder. "Hm?" 

"Thank you for the picnic," Justin said, grinning. 

~~~ 

> dude your a loser ... be right up!!! love joey. 
> 
> \-----Original Message-----  
>  From: "joey" <joethesuperman@nsync.com>  
>  To: <joethesuperman@nsync.com>  
>  Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 6:15 AM  
>  Subject: READ ME 
> 
> > COME HAVE SEX WITH ME RIGHT NOW PLEASE.  
>  >  
>  > LOVE,  
>  > J  
>  >  
>  > PS. I AM NAKED ON YOUR BED AND SO F*CKING HARD FOR YOU.  
>  > PPS. IT CENSORED ME!!! YOUR EMAIL SUCKS!!!  
>  > PPPS. I SUCK, TOO :-) 


End file.
